RANDY BARNETT

Reading Randy Barnett's Restoring the Lost Constitution and hoping to have something semi-intelligent to say about it before too long. If I could have my constitutional-theory-death-match wish and Randy Barnett were one of the participants, I'd like his opponent to be Tulane's Stephen Griffin, author of this book, or, perhaps, Grinnell's Ira Strauber, author of this book. Both Griffin and Strauber attempt to situate the practice of constitutional theory itself in the context of ongoing civic contestation over constitutional meaning, something that Barnett is relatively reluctant to do, it seems to me. Instead, he pitches his project as one of straightforward restoration, albeit restoration of a particular kind, namely, restoration of the correct kind of advice for the judiciary. Both Griffin and Strauber are skeptical about the value of such advice. More later, though. . .